Wednesday December 24, 2014

Last June Sophie Kohn took a microphone and a recorder to her mother's house in Toronto, with a single goal in mind: to preserve the sound of her mother's voice. Her mom Maureen, an internationally-renowned neuropsychologist, was diagnosed with cancer.

Sunday December 07, 2014

Sunday November 30, 2014

They call him “the wise man of the woods”. Jenni Schine calls him a friend. 80 year old Billy Proctor lives off the grid in Echo Bay, BC, the heart and soul of a community with just seven full time residents.

Sunday November 09, 2014

With letters and documents, St. Andrew's church in downtown Toronto examines the impact of the First World War on its congregation then and now.
ow the first world war affected this church community 100 years ago and how it still affects it today.

Tuesday October 14, 2014

After twelve years living on the streets of Vancouver Arthur is making a new life for himself in supportive housing but his old life keeps rising up demanding to be heard; you can't peel off the past and throw it away like a bundle of old street clothes.

Sunday October 05, 2014

An old man dies leaving behind a rack of beautiful custom made suits. A young man tries them on and asks; “who was this man and what can I learn from him?” PLUS; Mickey Katz; tailor to the stars of yesterday.

Sunday September 07, 2014

Voices lost; missing and murdered aboriginal women. A voice found; a woman who nearly lost her life during years of drug addiction and prostitution. PLUS; why aboriginal students leave home to go to school.

Sunday December 29, 2013

Which of Mozart's arias were composed in return for sexual favours? Do we see in Don Giovanni a coded quest to kill his father? Why did Mozart gamble so recklessly? Was the mysterious "grey messenger" who commissioned the Requiem the harbinger of his d

Sunday December 22, 2013

From boyhood triumphs to burial in a common grave; a Mozart "grand tour" with historians, archivists, musicians, musicologists, even a Freudian analyst, recorded in Paris, London, Prague, Vienna and Salzburg. PLUS excerpts from Mozart's letters.

Sunday December 08, 2013

"Pray away the gay"; two men who once believed they were sinful 'lost souls' and the woman whose change of heart brought them back into the fold. "Middle C"; listening to a singer changing from woman to man.

Sunday November 10, 2013

What happened to the Jews of Italy under the Fascist government of Benito Mussolini? Newly released documents in Italian archives challenge the long held view that Italy was a relatively safe haven for Jews.

Sunday November 03, 2013

"A Viking farewell". Edward Moll, with his brother and sister try to fulfil their father's wishes; to put his ashes in a boat, send it out on Lake Erie, burn it and fire flaming arrows over it - all to the music of Wagner's "Ride of the Valkyries".

Sunday October 27, 2013

"The wedding house of J. S. Woodsworth"; this old house has a history and a double life; museum and wedding parlour. "Empty house, empty nest"; this house feels old because of the silence when the the kids left home.

Sunday October 20, 2013

"Box of memories"; letters to a pen pal and a box of journals chart youthful flings and the rise and fall of a marriage. "Grownups read things they wrote as kids"; hormone driven explosions of love, lust and confusion.

Sunday October 13, 2013

After twelve years living on the streets of Vancouver Arthur is making a new life for himself in supportive housing but his old life keeps rising up demanding to be heard; you can't peel off the past and throw it away like a bundle of old street clothes.

Sunday September 22, 2013

"The Controller in his mind"; Kit Skelly's diary offers rare and valuable insights into his battle with Schizophrenia. "Saving Sarah"; why did it take so long to find the treatment that saved her life?

Sunday September 08, 2013

1. Sixty years ago, the summer of 1953 saw the worst polio epidemic in Canada's history. Polio was called "the crippler" and until a life saving vaccine was introduced in the mid 1950's it caused paralysis, deformed limbs and in the most severe cases de

Friday May 11, 2012

"Dreaming Georgina"; a country singer leaves St. John's carrying guitar and suitcase but also a haunting voice of warning; the broken dreams of another young Newfoundlander who left a century earlier for the opera houses of Europe.

Friday May 11, 2012

Laughter, snoring and a strange voice from Africa; a dungeon with beauty and a beast; a bookstore with a slimy surprise; a 'First nations' dream; "Firewoman and falling children"; a father and son clash on baseball's "field of dreams". "Train dreams"; a regretful daughter and an absent father.

Friday May 25, 2012

Tommy Taylor's graphic account of conditions inside the G20 detention centre where he and a thousand others were held in wire cages, begging police for food, water and medical attention.
Tommy Taylor was eventually released without charge or apology but the nightmare experience changed his life; "my heart broke, I mean this my country."
Tommy Taylor is a theatre director and actor. He tells his story together with clips from the play he wrote and performed about the Toronto G20. It's called called "You should have stayed at home".

Friday May 25, 2012

The G20 summit of 2010 is back in the news. Last week a new and comprehensive report was released which led to fresh charges and renewed calls for a full public inquiry. It contains
details of unlawful arrests, incidents where police used excessive force and cases of clear Charter rights violations.
We hear from the author of this new report and the Toronto police chief. And we follow the story of one man who was caught up in the chaos and violence.
"I wasn't an activist before G20" says Tommy Taylor, "but they've made me an activist now."
In Part 1 Tommy Taylor describes how he and his girlfriend were peacefully protesting, then arrested and taken to a makeshift detention centre.

Friday September 21, 2012

"Don't call it salami!"; To Sam Pane and his friends, Salami is a poor commercial cousin of the real deal; home meade "soppressatta". Sam spends a busy weekend slicing, dicing, poking, packing, eating and drinking, learning the tricks of the trade with Pino, the master of "soppressatta".

Friday September 21, 2012

"Evil eye"; a powerful family secret revealed. "Red rocket to the old world"; a journey of memory through Toronto's "Little Italy". "Bocce"; the game that travelled from ancient Rome to 21st century Canada. "Italian wedding"; dropping in on a "crazy messy Italian family".

Friday October 26, 2012

How much longer will the old town clock in Almonte, Ontario chime unless the 75 year old custodian finds a younger person to replace him? Cara Sullivan launches herself into the world of competitive whistling. PLUS; the "Oh Canada" whistle for the 1967 Confederation train.

Friday October 26, 2012

The "Bell of Batoche", still missing since the Metis rebellion of 1885. "Bells in Europe"; during WW2 80,000 bells were taken from churches by Hitler's army and melted down into guns. PLUS; a fatal high speed chase in a model T Ford leads to the gift of a 12 bell carillon to a church in Regina.

Friday November 02, 2012

"The zen of cows"; a veterinary student finds enlightenment in a cow's anatomy. "Preg test day" on a ranch sees pregnant cows kept and the others sold for hamburgers. "The Change in Farming"; A young composer hears wisdom and music in his grandfather's stories.

Sunday December 02, 2012

Andra McCartney retraces her steps quite literally; in her mid 40's she's re-learning to walk. Travis Schouten fought in Afghanistan but is struggling to escape images from the past.
For Corinna Hodgson, moving on meant walking a couple of hundred steps, at night, from a Toronto subway station to her home.

Sunday December 02, 2012

Carolina Echeverria returns to Chile in order to be able to forget her painful past there. Dan Misener and friends return to an old graveyard to give back what was taken. Suzanne Ahearne crosses the Atlantic on a real ship but with a cargo of memories and unfinished business.

Friday January 18, 2013

"A is for Aardvark" was a popular TV and radio show hosted by Lister Sinclair. We revive it now with the first of a series of "alphabetically themed" programmes - beginning at the beginning, with the letter "A".
PART 1 For Jane Nelson who loves back country skiing, A is for the avalanche that nearly buried her alive. For Billy Miedemar, A is for Animals, but only dead ones. For Nicole Boudreau, A is for Acadia and her beloved but ridiculed Acadian language.

Friday January 11, 2013

Mathilde Mkesharugo came to Canada after the horrors of Rwanda's genocide. Life has been tough, but throughout it all she had a dream; to go to a University. In Quebec 70% of abused women won't leave the family home if they can't take their pets with them. Nicole Messier opened her own home as a temporary refuge for dogs, cats, birds, fish, even snakes, in order for women to find safety. In his small apartment in Vancouver a young man seeks refuge from noisy neighbours and police sirens.

Friday January 11, 2013

When the German army occupied Holland in World War 2, many Dutch families risked their lives to give sanctuary to Jewish children. One was the Smit family. In 1940 Showkie Smith was a fourteen year old girl. She tells how one day her father brought home a little boy, a new 'cousin', to live with the family. Today that 'cousin' is a grateful man in his mid 70's who describes those wartime years in hiding and his new life in Israel.

Friday January 25, 2013

The town of Cumberland BC apologises to Japanese Canadians
taken away to internment camps during the second world war.
James Motluk discovers his Ukrainian born grandfather was
interned during the First World War. Why do some apologies succeed and others fail? The case of Christian brothers in Toronto and Ottawa.

Friday January 25, 2013

A childhood accident and an adult apology; Kevin Craig once threw a rock that hit his brother and lied about it for 20 years. Poornima Ranawana writes a letter of apology to her deceased grandfather. Margot Van Sluytman receives an apology from the man who murdered her father.

Friday January 18, 2013

For Teresa Goff, A is for Aphasia which has has robbed her once talkative father of his ability to speak to her. As family farms disappear in Canada, A is for the Auction says singer and storyteller Enoch Kent. A is for Annoying and also for Attitude; as in men's refusal in the early days of radio to let women be Announcers. And finally A is for Advice, sex advice, from Amanda Jardine.

Friday February 08, 2013

"Remembering Angela"; a man a women are found shot dead in an SUV following a 400 kilometer police chase. Cameron Tiesma hears the story on the radio and realises the dead woman was the first love of his life. "David and Lisa"; a love story with a rocky start but a happy ending. And a message; if you want to keep your love learn the tango! "Dear piano"; can you love an inanimate object? Can you fall out of love with an inanimate object? Can you be unfaithful to an inanimate object?! Can Michelle Morra ditch her faithful old piano for a digital keyboard?

Friday February 08, 2013

"Alfred and Isabel". They fall in love but they can't seem to find a way to stay together and they go their separate ways, live separate lives. But love is strong and stubborn and they keep the flame alive with letters, 81 letters over 25 years. "Nora and George"; a young man goes off to fight in the First World War. His sister Nora cherishes the two letters he sent home before the slaughter claimed him.

Friday February 15, 2013

"End of the line". For decades "The Northlander" has snaked 700 kilometers from Toronto to Cochrane, through farmland and the hard rock of the Canadian shield - a train with a long and proud history. Last year the Ontario government cancelled it. Some people on its last run were travelling on routine business, others to savour a sad moment and to remember. "Noises off". What is it about train sounds that stimulate our imagination and our memories? We asked people to put on headphones, listen to the sounds of trains and talk.

Friday March 01, 2013

C is for cancer but also for Courage and Cottages - holiday cottages. "Seana and Jackie" is a story in two voices; Jackie has had cancer surgery and Seana O'Neill runs an organisation called "Cottage dreams". C is for the Cello which Joanne Oasterman saw in a pawn shop and fell in love with. When the cello was sold to someone else Joanne went on a quest to satisfy her dreams and desires.

Friday February 22, 2013

"Follow me". Hear the sound of a choir being born, from a gleam in its founder's eye to its first triumphant performance. The Nathaniel Dett Chorale is a professional chamber choir specialising in "Afrocentric music". It's shown how music can bring not just joy and enjoyment but has the power to overcome differences and break down barriers of race and colour.

Friday February 22, 2013

"I hate being black", Joseph Daley said to his parents his ears ringing with racial epithets hurled at him by his kindergarten classmates. Not any more - not since he began fighting racism with humour and poetry. "Black ghosts of Paris"; in the small Ontario town where she was raised, Julia Browne and her family felt isolated and alone, almost the only black people around. When Julia moved to Paris she found her spiritual home and some long gone but inspiring people she calls her "black ghosts". Jamal Robinson wants a career in broadcasting. When we hooked him up with a top CBC producer he was in for some surprises, most of them good.

Friday February 15, 2013

"Kids again"; when they were young Jay Brown and his brother often explored the train tunnel near their home, plunging into its seductive depths. Years later it still pulls them in. "Infiltrators"; for some people a 'do not enter' sign is an irresistable invitation to open up a manhole to the forbidden tunnels that lie deep below busy city streets. "The Screaming tunnel" near Niagara Falls has a dark and mysterious past and it's where locals and tourists go at midnight to strike a match and scare themselves half to death. Our brave investigator Sam Pane was the only one to venture into its darkness alone.

Friday March 08, 2013

Many voices, one person; Samantha Hodder learns how to be a one woman band. In earlier times many women found their voice but were held back from using it. But no-one could suppress the songs and poems of Bob Coe's amazing mother Connie. A young man says he wants to learn how to "sing like Marvin". Good luck with that because it's Marvin Gaye he's talking about! Find your voice and sing from the heart - like Rosella Fraser, raised in a home filled with baptist faith and gospel and country singing.
"OH NO, SAY IT AIN'T SO!" THE "VOICE" OF LIVING OUT LOUD WILL FALL SILENT FOR THE NEXT FEW MONTHS AS WE DONATE OUR AIR TIME TO "THE 180", A NEW SHOW HOSTED BY JIM BROWN. WE WILL RETURN WITH LOTS OF GREAT NEW STORIES IN JULY. AU REVOIR; FROM CHRIS HOWDEN AND STEVE WADHAMS.

Friday March 08, 2013

"Just one song"; in the movies they make it seem so easy, but in real life? Eavesdrop on a journalist and his non musical friend as they try to find the creative voice that will lead to a hit song, the real show stopper they crave to compose. "The Change in Farming"; a young composer takes his grandfather's rich voice and even richer old world farming stories and turns them into rap music.

Friday March 01, 2013

C is Crokinole, a very Canadian board game. It's also for Continuity and Confidence; the confidence a young man needs to tell his father something he doesn't want to hear. C is for Cages - for birds and for people. Alex Samur's father has always kept canaries and when she visited her Christian Arab cousins in Jersusalem she was amazed to find that they do too. C is for Dr. Calamari and his Cabinet of strange sounds and Curious Children.

Sunday July 07, 2013

"Don't call it salami!" To many Canadians of Italian origin the word salami means something inferior and commercial. The real stuff is called "soppressatta" and this you make at home with love, care, wine and laughter. Sam Pane spent a weekend learning

Friday July 05, 2013

"Don't call it salami!" To many Canadians of Italian origin the word salami means something inferior and commercial. The real stuff is called "soppressatta" and this you make at home with love, care, wine and laughter. Sam Pane spent a weekend learning